Reply by Nicholas Hall

@ Dan: That’s an interesting approach to glue ups I had never of. You are right of course that what I’m proposing is overthinking things a bit. This is really a thought experiment more than anything else. The interesting question to me is how could one exert even 100,000 pounds of clamping force in the home workshop affordably.

@Patcollins: I don’t think anyone needs to worry about a catastrophic glueline failure on a 4” thick ash benchtop. These are 400 benches made to hold 20lb boards. Incidentally, the optimal pounds per square inch is defined as the point at which the glueline is stronger than the wood. The more interesting thing to me is the problem of the visual glueline on thick maple tops that require 1200psi. You are probably right that clamping pressure is not the biggest risk factor for this though. Nice to have an engineer’s perspective.

-- “Congratulations. You’ve just figured out the most complicated way to hold a board 30 inches off the floor." Tage Frid